Politics: Don't Move

Scroll down in the same Kamen item, and you will find an interesting segment about one of Bush's recess appointments from the spring break that lawmakers just took.

The White House made a number of recess appointments last week as Congress fled for spring break. One was April H. Foley, a "homemaker," according to campaign contribution disclosure documents, from South Salem, N.Y. She was named to the board of directors of the Export-Import Bank. The appointment is good until Congress adjourns next year.

So why a homemaker for this job? Well, "early in her career," the White House announcement says, she was director of business planning for corporate strategy with PepsiCo Inc. and director of strategy for Reader's Digest Association. More recently, she was president of the United Way of Northern Westchester County, N.Y. Not all of it, just the northern part.

Still not locked in on the merits? Did we mention she used to date George W. Bush when both were at Harvard Business School and has remained friends with him?

First and foremost, I am not complaining about the "homemaker" career item, though Kamen does hit it a little hard. Ms. Foley's other qualifiations don't raise her to the level of a board position on the Export-Import Bank any more than mine do. But can anybody imagine what kind of response he could have been guaranteed if Bill Clinton recess appointed an old girlfriend to a Senate confirmation position? It would have been like Armageddon. But I bet that would seem unpatriotic now.